Salesforce, USA The software-as-a-service (SaaS) customer relationship management specialist has seen strong growth in South Africa in recent years. It now sees an investment in training initiatives as key to its growth strategy in South Africa and the rest of Africa.
With the integration of genetic artificial intelligence into Salesforce software, global research firm International Data Corporation has predicted that US$5.8 billion will be generated by the Salesforce ecosystem between 2022 and 2028, coinciding with the creation of 33,000 new jobs that will require upgrading or reskilling the people who will fill these roles.
“Through our training initiatives, we aim to impart ‘fit for purpose’ skills,” said Ursula Fear, senior talent program manager at Saleforce South Africa. “The reality is you don’t need a degree to come into the Salesforce world, but one of our biggest challenges is solving the workplace experience for people to complement their education with work-embedded skills.”
At the core of Salesforce strategy training are free courses – or “paths” – available through Trailheada self-paced learning platform that offers Salesforce-specific training along with ancillary business and management courses.
Each learning path has certification exams that help give learners the credentials they need to advance in the workplace. Those without previous work experience, however, face a challenge when it comes to finding work.
According to Fear, Salesforce is pursuing industry partnerships with large-scale institutions such as Standard Bank and Absa to channel newly qualified people into internship-style roles that will help them develop the workplace skills they need to complement theory and practical basis set by their Trailhead. certification path.
Mismatch
Fear said advances in artificial intelligence will exacerbate the mismatch between the skills students learn in a four-year degree program and what is needed to add value in the workplace. One way Salesforce addresses this problem is by building relationships with high schools and participating in career fairs where high school students are shown how the technology is used in industry.
“You have to make that connection between education and industry use early on so that students are informed as they decide which course of study to pursue,” Fear said.
Other initiatives focus on qualified people who are either struggling to find work in their chosen profession or those who simply want to make a career change. The Dundee Digital Skills Hub is a pilot program that combines Salesforce training with workplace experience. Participants come from a variety of backgrounds, including computer science, marine biology, criminology and public administration.
Along with industry partners, Salesforce joined forces with educational institutions such as WeThinkCode and ALX to promote its educational program, many of whom were present at the World Tour Essentials event held in Johannesburg last week. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media